Time lapse full metal Broadspeed GT restoration/transformation

[Charlynsane]

Incredible work Doc, as usual

You car is stunning, and you work so fast !

[Dr.Mabo]

Thanks to all of you. I read your enthusiastic and motivating comments again and again.

Now, back from the roll-out at the Retro Classic in Stuttgart Germany, I first have to go into acoustic quarantine . The numerous dialects in the southern part of Germany are really not easy for me as a northern boy to handle . Apart from that, the 4 days were a complete success. Above all, I am still impressed that some people visited the fair just to see my Broadspeed in the flesh. I feel even more honoured by those who came all the way from abroad to see it. Many thanks for that.

Here are a few impressions.

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One could even think that the red carpet was laid out for the Broadspeed.

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[hanlminiman]

Hi Doc
Did you get any photos of the rear of the Longman GT?
Cliff

[Dr.Mabo]

Now that I have recovered from the classic car fair and my thoughts and speech centre have been reset, I would like to share a few facts and figures about the project as a whole.

In particular, since I made my project public and presented it at the Retro Classic, there were more and more comments like, I've always wanted to build a Broadspeed too, or, great, I'm going to do that now.

The idea for the project came up in 2015. I then spent 3 years researching and planning. There were questions to be answered like: What kind of part is this or that? What kind of vehicle is it from? And once I knew, where could I get it? Beyond that, to this day, there are no measurements, drawings or moulds.

In 2018 I found a matching bodyshell, which of course first needed a normal restoration to remove the rust. The work was completed in early 2020 and I started the conversion. You know the rest.

But now to the unusual and often suppressed figures for a hobby. In total, I invested exactly 2350 hours of pure craftsmanship. There were months in which I worked 160 hours in the garage. On top of that, I spent around €36,000 on parts and paintwork. This does not include investments in training, tools and material, for example, for mould making of another approx. 6,000 €. During all the work, I wrote a restoration diary, which now has 230 pages of pure text. A good 2,600 photos support all the written words .

Such figures often have a discouraging effect. But that is not the point here. It is simply not possible to realise and, above all, complete such a project without a clear view of the facts. Incidentally, I am sure that many others would come up with similar figures for their mini-projects if they would count them .

For a long time I wondered why, in all my research, I had not found anyone who had built a true-to-the-original Broadspeed completely out of sheet metal somewhere in the world within the last 55 years before me. But I guess I have just given myself the answer.

[Peter Laidler]

Guten Morgen Herr Doc Mabo; from Abingdon in England

I have been an avid follower of your building of the magnificent Broadspeed and you knoow from this thread that there are hubndreds of other followers too. I have suggested this before.

Why don't you write the whole story down, have it printed up into booklet form and sell the books. There are hundreds of people out there in Forum-lands and Mini-lands across the world who are rebuilding and restoring minis as we speak. Certainly much of the Broadspeed rebuild will not affect a standard mini, Cooper or S restorer but the whole of the front and floor pan will be pretty much the same. It's not just about the quality of the work. Some of the ideas and detail shown is absolutely priceless.

Put me down for two copies - and next time I am in Dusseldorf I will drive down to collect them!

[Fanfaniracing]

Hi Doc! I would follow the suggestion of Peter and take another two examples!

So 4 in total!

Any others?

[rpb203]

Yes please from me.

[MiNiKiN]

I would clearly take one or two copies two.

@Doc, would you have started if you'd known following figures beforehand?

• 2350 hours

• €36,000 parts and paintwork

• €6,000 mould making

• countless hours of engineering and project management

I once did a similar project where I built a 60ies special race replica of a Vespa GS - spending roughly 1200h and 5-6k€.
Now in the know and having finished the achievement with all the accompanying glory I would NOT want to do it again.

Tschüß
Marcus

[UHR850]

[Dr.Mabo]

I really appreciate your idea with the book. However, I don't want to raise too much hope. At the moment, I still live in the belief that the number of potential buyers will be very manageable. Our society nowadays is used to getting such information for free from the internet. So the number of those who are really interested in my Broadspeed construction will be reduced to those who would even pay money for it

@Doc, would you have started if you'd known following figures beforehand?

• 2350 hours

• €36,000 parts and paintwork

• €6,000 mould making

• countless hours of engineering and project management

In fact, the numbers do not really deviate from my expectation. I would even have expected a little more in terms of working hours. For the money, my guess was a little less. However, this is primarily due to Brexit, which made the procurement of parts much more expensive, and the costs for painting were higher than expected. However, the quality and a good feeling was more important to me than my calculated price.

So I answer this question clearly with YES.

[hanlminiman]

Hi Doc
But nowadays on the Internet one can create a personal "book/photo album" from the photos taken during our projects. I created a photographic record "hard back book/printed photo album" from selected images. Once created in can be printed many times. The original record is priceless but factaul evidence of the project.
So glad we have entered the digital image age.
Cliff

[roger mcnab]

hi doc
what do you do in your spare time or are you a full time car restorer as it seams that you just flew through this project
cheers roger

[Dr.Mabo]

hi doc
what do you do in your spare time or are you a full time car restorer as it seams that you just flew through this project

I guess you have missed the headline. Its named "time lapse"

But I have to admit the lockdowns during the last 2 years were quite an advantage for the project. Regularly I'm working fulltime in the quality department of Lufthansa


In the meantime, I have also created the right outfit for the Broadspeed.

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I've also been looking for a Broadspeed key fob for quite some time. There used to be some, but they haven't been available for a while and they are out of prduction. So I designed one myself and had it made.

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[Peter Laidler]

I want one too Doc. Can you get another made? I'm sure a few others will want one......... The key-ring I mean!

[Dr.Mabo]

I want one too Doc. Can you get another made? I'm sure a few others will want one......... The key-ring I mean!

Hi Peter,
I will come to Beaulieu with my Broadspeed. I will have some spare key fobs with me. So you will have the chance to get one

See you there

[snoopy64]

Coming to Beaulieu…. Is that breaking news?!

[seandoyle]

Just bought my ticket on the strength of that ! What a treat it will be to see it for real…

[Dr.Mabo]

I'm looking forwart to see you all at Beaulieu.

But before that there was still a bit of rework needed in various places. This included, for example, finding the cause of the permanently lit ignition light, adjusting the rev counter to realistic values, eliminating rattling noises in various places and also changing the brake pedal. The pedal box is from an 850 MK1 with drum brakes. Unfortunately, the brake pedal is at about the same height as the accelerator pedal. And I don't like that at all. Unfortunately, I didn't have a Cooper S brake pedal with a slightly different angle, so I took an even higher brake pedal from an MK3. I cut the rubber mount plate to fit the old pedal rubber. To my own surprise, the change of the pedal took exactly one hour, including removing the old cotter pin and inserting the new one.

During my preliminary research, I had found tips that it was better to remove the entire pedals box because this would be easier. I can absolutely not confirm this . And of course I had to be especially careful not to scratch the freshly painted parts, such as the steering column.

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[mk1coopers]

One I’ll definitely seek out at Beaulieu to see it ‘in the metal’

[Paul Wiginton]

Are you making a contest with Paul Wiginton?

Oh, I would never even think about a contest with Paul . He is an educated and professional bodyworker with ages of experience based on Aston Martin.

I'm just an enthusiast who only passed a two weeks panelbeating training.

I think that would be a rather unequal competition

But I'm honored you even consider it

Doc, I honestly thought you were professional - if you have only had a 2 week training course and an enthusiasm for the art then I salute you, your work is fantastic, a natural talent